University of Alabama Faculty Senate continues sorority discussion

Monday

Sep 23, 2013 at 11:00 PMSep 23, 2013 at 11:10 PM

The University of Alabama Faculty Senate is scheduled to resume discussion today of a statement urging action by the UA administration following recent allegations of voter fraud by Greek organizations during the recent Tuscaloosa municipal election and racial discrimination during sorority recruitment.

By Ed EnochStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

The University of Alabama Faculty Senate is scheduled to resume discussion today of a statement urging action by the UA administration following recent allegations of voter fraud by Greek organizations during the recent Tuscaloosa municipal election and racial discrimination during sorority recruitment. The senate began discussing the content of the statement during its regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 17. It voted to table the matter to allow time to incorporate comments from last week’s meeting into the statement. The body agreed to meet again this week for a work session to continue the discussion. Faculty Senate President Steve Miller, a professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, said the latest draft of the statement will be released today at a 3:30 p.m. meeting in Room 214 of Farrah Hall on the UA campus.Miller called last week’s discussion excellent, but he said he wants to take some of the “heat out of the debate” and refocus the energy on what steps need to be taken to move the university forward.Miller described the latest draft as “positive” and “forward thinking,” with the goal of helping the students, faculty and the administration work together to increase diversity on campus.The first draft of the statement recommended a series of steps the university’s administration could take to “ensure the expectations regarding the ethical and civically responsible behavior of the University of Alabama students are clearly understood and enforced.”The first draft recommended reviews of the student code of conduct and the governance of student organizations, including the Student Government Association and the Greek system, by separate task forces. During the discussion last week, senators and other speakers recommended the document have “more teeth” and greater accountability for the administration about the steps being taken to find a long-term solution to increase diversity on campus and oversight of student organizations.At the beginning of last week, UA President Judy Bonner mandated a continuous open bidding process with the aim of increasing diversity in the Greek system. On Friday, Bonner announced six minority students, including four black women, had joined traditionally white sororities so far. Bonner’s actions followed reports by the student newspaper, The Crimson White, that efforts by current sorority members to offer bids to qualified black students were scuttled by some alumnae because of the candidates’ race.